They stopped at a little hole in the wall restaurant where the food was divine. Apparently Ramon and Star went there often, for they were well taken care of. It was just after 10:30 when they got back to the chateau. Ramon asked Lisbet to meet him in his study when she was through 'freshening up'. "I think it's time we talked, oui? I know you have many questions." There was already a roaring fire going in the fireplace when she got down to the study. Ramon gestured for her to join him on the sofa. "A lot of what I am about to tell you will be hard to believe. Don't worry. It would be hard for me too, were I in your shoes...or anyone else's for that matter. Let us start with a certain dream you had on your way to the airport." He smiled as Lisbet's eyes grew wide. "I gave you that dream. Everything you saw in it was from the past - our past. You and I have known one another for a long, long time. I am always me but you are not always you. Still your soul looks the same to me. Always. Let us say that 'fate' keeps putting us in one another's way," Ramon laughed and shrugged. "It remains a mystery to me why, but I am not sorry for it." "How long is a 'long, long time'?" Lisbet asked haltingly. "About a thousand years." She was silent for a long few seconds. "Oh...is that all?" "I told you - hard to believe. No, we are not vampires although it has been implied here and there. I only pretend to be one on stage. I've played Mephistopheles too, but that does not mean I am the Devil. Eh...we've been called that, too. Everyone needs a scapegoat. They believe we are evil and cause all the problems of the world." Ramon shrugged again, staring into the fire and then back at Lisbet. "We cannot help what people do or have made of the knowledge we gave them." Lisbet looked puzzled. "I'm still not sure I know what you are or how you do what you do. I could guess all manner of ridiculous things - aliens, faeries...." Ramon chuckled. "Perhaps a little of anything you could guess. We are many things to many people. It depends on whom you ask. But at the center of it all, we are...angels." Stunned, Lisbet stared at him. Things began to fall into place in her mind - bits and pieces of things she'd come across here and there mingled with some nagging feeling that he'd told her this before - long, long ago. "You mean, like fallen angels?" "We did not 'fall'. We were sent here to help humans grow and learn. We are more like guardians and teachers. Most of the guardians are the females but not all. They are very fierce. Some of us simply observe and catalogue. Others teach and learn...and watch." "Sent from where?" "That is a bit harder to explain. There is another plane of existence outside this one, but not really. They coexist. Humans simply cannot see it because it lies outside the visible light spectrum and moves at a different speed - some very slow and some very fast. I will explain more about that later. The important thing now is to make you over and give you a new identity so you are not recognizable. You will have a small bit of our brand of 'plastic surgery'. It will be painless - no cutting." "Magic?" "Oui, if you prefer to call it that." ***** Now you know! :) I wish you all a marvelous weekend and hope a certain Mr. Dog gets to actually relax. Lol. Thank you so much for your comments, favs and dropping by - and a special thanks to RodS. Much appreciated sir! Happy weekend!! Ray